August 3rd – Weather – intermittently sunny, warm but with a very strong cooling wind.

As August began I wanted to get out to see wildflowers. This is one of my favourite times of year for that, when there is every chance that there may be earlier flowering plants still around and the late-summer bloomers should be at or reaching their best. Most of the sites I visit regularly are good for wildflowers, but as they are mostly located on hills or headlands and exposed to the elements, they would not be particularly enjoyable on a strongly windy day like today and taking photographs would be difficult. I decided on Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve, one of my favourites as it covers a range of interesting habitats within its 12 acre site and as it is located on the eastern side of the Little Orme there was a chance that much of it would be sheltered from the worst of the wind.

There are three ways to access the reserve, all of which require a bit of an uphill hike. One route is from Llandudno, another from the other side of the Little Orme, but for me the most interesting route to its main entrance is along the path at the base of a section of the Orme that runs up Penrhyn Hill. Marked as a 10% gradient, this is a steepish stretch to walk, but worth the effort as the rock supports an array of plants, both wildflowers and some garden escapees, and is a nature trail in itself. This provides me with the perfect excuse to amble up the hill and take frequent excusable pauses for breath rather than stride purposefully along.

Looking back along Penrhyn Hill towards Penrhyn Bay. The hill in the centre background is Bryn Euryn

Part 1 – Penrhyn Hill roadside to the reserve

My first sighting was of a male Common blue butterfly taking a break from his battle with the wind on the flower of a hop trefoil, low down in the vegetation. Amongst long grass and ivy, a grey leaved Yellow-wort; this is an annual favouring short calcareous grassland but is found in a variety of spots throughout the headland.

Common blue

Yellow wort-Blackstonia perfoliata

There were several clumps of a plant that was definitely a member of the mint family with strongly aromatic leaves. I don’t know what it is yet.

since publishing this Suzanne has kindly suggested in a comment that it is Common calamint Clinopodium ascendens. This is a mint that grows in dry grassland, hedgerows and verges, often on chalk or limestone soils, so habitat fits perfectly.

Common calamint – Clinopodium ascendens

And another aromatic plant – Wild Fennel, growing as tall as me, in front of gorse.

A pretty snail clung to the leaf of a Valerian plant; I lifted it gently to check the colour of its underside lip – brown – then replaced it. A few bees were braving the breeze, mostly Buff-tailed bumblebees. I photographed one on marjoram, which may or may not be a wild plant.

Brown-lipped snail

Buff-tailed bumblebee on marjoram

There is Wild Carrot in various stages of flowering from tight buds to maturing seedheads. Most often found in rough grassland, near the sea and again mostly on chalky soil. This is one of the easier of the white umbellifers to identify, with feathery leaves and bracts beneath the flowerheads and always a red flower in its centre.

Wild Carrot-Daucus carota

Windy days are not good for butterflies, but I did see a couple of Gatekeepers. Both sticking close within the vegetation, one found Marjoram to nectar on, the other attempted to bask on a Wild Clematis leaf. Both were faded and looking a little the worse for wear.

Gatekeeper on Marjoram- fruits of Herb Robert behind

Gatekeeper

A flowering Goldenrod plant sprawled out across the edge of the path.

Goldenrod – Solidago virgaurea

So too a sprawling patch of Montbretia

Montbretia

and this one with its flowers like small dandelions, which I think may be one of the Hawkweeds. Another one to work on.

A stone wall marking the boundary of the farm’s land breaks the vegetated path edge, but behind it the small field is golden with Ragwort and long seeding grass. There were butterflies in there, mostly Whites, but it’s off-limits so couldn’t get a closer look.

Trees on the edge of the small wood in the background of the photograph now cast shade over the path and its edge and there are less flowering plants. There is plenty of ivy, Wild Clematis a flourishing Wild Cabbage, more of the not yet id’d mint and a clump of the usually sun-seeking Rockrose.

Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

Half an hour after parking my car I finally reach the entrance to the reserve. The sun is shining and a fly basks in the warmth reflected by the glass of the narrative board.

A pretty clump of Marjoram flowers at its base.

I turned left to first walk the short length of the path at the base of the headland where it meets Llandudno Bay. The strength of the wind here took my breath away and walking into it head on was a challenge, but now I’d got this far I wanted to carry on to the far end of this eastern side of the headland as far as I could.

Up on the cliff a patch of harebells gave a rare opportunity to get close to these lovely little flowers without having to lie on the ground. They look delicate and their thin stems seem fragile, but they are tougher than they look and were holding their own in today’s wind.

Spiky starry Carline thistles caught my eye. Kneeling to photograph them I see they are growing amongst bird’s-foot trefoil and that there is another little star there too – a tiny white flower of Pearlwort.

There is Yellow-wort flowering next to Wood sage which is setting seed.

Another Carline thistle, this time with Eyebright and an unwelcome invader, cotoneaster, one of the banes of the lives of hard-pressed reserve managers.

Nearby, more Harebells with a little pink Centaury and the grey felty leaves of Mouse-eared Hawkweed.

I was almost relieved to reach the end of the track and be blown back to retrace my steps to the beginning of the upward track.

First I went ‘off piste’ a little to reach a stand of golden yellow Ploughman’s Spikenard.

Ploughman’s Spikenard – Inula conyzae

Then a scramble back down to the start of the track proper. A badged wooden post here reassures you that you are officially following both the Wales Coast Path and the North Wales Path.

You probably do not need me to tell you that the weather this month has, so far, been rather un-summery, particularly in this part of the country, so I won’t bore you with unnecessary details. However it has impacted on the opportunities I have had to get out and about and record the effects it has had on the local wildlife, if any. That’s not to say I haven’t been keeping my eyes open and looking for opportunities to record what I am seeing, but rainy and windy days are not very conducive to taking photographs of insects or indeed flowers that are being buffeted by the weather.

An expanse of long grass on the clifftop blown by the wind against a background of very blue sea

The first day of August brought a mixed bag of weather conditions, but I tried to make the most of a sunny spell towards the end of the afternoon by visiting the Little Orme. It was windy up there, but there were a few butterflies out feeding in odd places sheltered from the wind. In the majority were Meadow Browns, staying well down in the long grass, but there were a few Gatekeepers enjoying the abundance of bramble flowers, but not settling for long enough to photograph, one of two whites and one gorgeous Tortoiseshell. There were hardly any bees or hoverflies or indeed any insects flying.

A beautiful Tortoiseshell butterfly on bramble flowers

A large white (f) butterfly settled on a bramble stem very low to the ground. I love the mossy background.

Ragwort is flowering now; this somewhat contentious plant is an invaluable source of nectar for a myriad of insects and the host plant of the unmistakeable black and yellow striped larvae of the Cinnabar Moth, many plants are already supporting numbers of them.

Ragwort flowers with Cinnabar Moth caterpillars

Ragwort flowers with insects

There are some interesting plants flowering here at the moment; one is the pink-flowered Centaury and the other is Yellow-wort-Blackstonia, neither of which were showing open flowers today.

Common Centaury – Centaurium erythraea. Welsh, Bustl yr daear

Centaury flowers tightly closed

A member of the family Gentianaceae, common centaury thrives in dry grassy places and is especially common on stable sand dunes and on dune slacks.

A small plant of the gentian family, with flat-clusters of star-shaped rose pink flowers, which open only when the sun shines. The stem is four-cornered and grows to a height of 4-20 inches (10-50 cm).

Etymology & traditional medicinal uses

Centaury takes its name from the Greek centaur, Chiron, who was half man, half horse. Chiron was a teacher of the gods and skilled in the uses of medicinal herbs, and legend has it that when he was shot accidentally by Hercules with a poison arrow, he healed himself using common centaury.

This is a truly versatile herb that apparently may be used for nearly any problem. It is a bitter-tasting herb, which Culpeper noted “Tis very wholesome; but not very toothsome.” It is used for a variety of digestive problems, including colic, bloating, heartburn, dyspepsia, to stimulate appetite, ease constipation, and to aid the proper assimilation and digestion of food. An extract prepared with vodka (!) is given for high blood pressure, liver and gall bladder problems. Lotions containing centaury have been used on the skin to remove different kinds of blemishes. It is used as a treatment for muscular rheumatism, gout, convulsions, tuberculosis, cramps and snakebites.

Externally, the juice applied to the eyes will clear the vision, and applied to wounds, ulcers, old sores, bruises, will help promote healing. It kills worms as do most bitters and a decoction externally applied will destroy lice and other parasites in the hair.

Bach Flower remedy

I am familiar with Centaury through my work as an Holistic therapist, having studied and extensively used the Bach Flower remedies. It was one of Dr Edward Bach’s original ’12 Healers’.

The Centaury remedy is for people who find it difficult to say ‘no’ to others, usually kind, gentle souls who like to help that may find themselves being taken advantage of and becoming resentful. The willing servant ending up the slave of another’s wishes. The remedy doesn’t harden or make us callous,rather it supports the development of courage and self-determination. We are better able to draw a line and make space where we can be ourselves, free of the desires and commands of others.

Yellow-wort – Blackstonia perfoliata. Welsh, Canri felen

Yellow-wort keeps its flowers tightly closed when the sun is not shining

A distinctive plant with grey-green leaves arranged in pairs to form ‘cups’ up the stem and bright yellow flowers that only open in the brightest sunshine. Yellow-wort is lime-loving and in Wales occurs in the greatest numbers dunes along the northern and southern coastal strips, particularly on marshy dune slacks. It generally flowers from June to October in Britain where it is widespread but not common.

In common with the afore-mentioned Centaury, Yellow-wort is a member of the family Gentianaceae, but is distinguished from all other family members, which have flowers with either four or five petals, by having six or even eight flower petals. It is tricky to catch the flowers open as even on the brightest, sunniest days they close very quickly if as much as a cloud passes over them.

Etymology & use

Yellow is self-explanatory as the colour of the flowers of the plant and wort was commonly used in the names of plants and herbs, especially those used formerly as food or medicinally. In this particular case I have been unable to discover any history of the plant being used medicinally, but a yellow dye can be obtained from the plant extract, so that may cover it.

The Latin Blackstonia refers to the 18th Century botanist and apothecary John Blackstone. Perfoliata.. through-leaved .. referring to the leaves which are fused together at the base with the stem threading its way through.

John Blackstone (1712–1753). Blackstone worked in London and spent his holidays at Harefield, north Middlesex. His major work was Fasciculus Plantarum circa Harefield sponte nascentium. Cum Appendice, ad Loci Historiam spectante which catalogued plants he found in Harefield and included the precise location of the rarer plants. He was working on a second work when he died prematurely aged 41.

To find a wasp you would have to look around the new green leaf buds in late May as it prepares to lay its eggs. Then the female diplolepis lay up to sixty eggs within each leaf bud using her ovipositor. The asexual wasps emerge in the spring; less than one percent are males.

The bedeguar gall is surrounded by a dense mass of sticky branched filaments, giving the appearance of a ball of moss. Its filaments start off green, gradually becoming pink that turns crimson and ages to a reddish brown. They are at their most attractive from about now to September, as from then they begin to lose their hairs, although they remain in place until the new gall wasps emerge in the spring. A large specimen can achieve up to 10 cm in width.

Etymology

The term ‘Bedeguar, Bedegar or Bedequar’ comes from a French word, bédegar, but that originated from the Persian, bād-āwar, meaning ‘wind-brought.’

The Robin in ‘Robin’s pincushion’ refers to the woodland sprite of English folklore, Robin Goodfellow, otherwise known as Will o’ the wisp and Puck.

Folklore & traditional medicinal uses

Folklore tells us that if a Robin’s Pincushion is placed under one’s pillow it aids sleep and the gall was therefore known as the ‘Sleep Apple’.

The galls have apparently been used in the treatment of whooping cough and carried as an amulet to ward off toothache.